STUDENT’S NAME WITHHELD BY REQUEST
English 9/Mr. Davis
Los Alamos High School

Editor’s note: This essay is one of a series of letters submitted for publication by Adam Davis’s students at Los Alamos High School.

The lines between privilege and rights are often gray, however they exist and need to be justified for fair treatment. Often debated is where privilege and right separate, even sometimes if a division exists at all. Rights fundamentally need to be specified because when they are not, many problems arise. Some believe that rights and privileges can be self determined and do not need to be defined, often saying it is a violation of rights to specifically state said rights. Many accusations can be made and problems can go unsolved or unfairly solved when there is confusion between the two.

In order to accurately address this topic, both privilege and rights should be defined. According to the Maerriam Webster dictionary, the definition of privilege is “a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor” (“Privilege Definition & Meaning”). This includes anything that gives you a head start, special treatment, and frankly put, anything that is not absolutely necessary for basic rights and survival. The definition of a right is “qualities (such as adherence to duty or obedience to lawful authority) that together constitute the ideal of moral propriety or merit moral approval” (“Privilege Definition & Meaning”). Going back to 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, stating “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” (“Declaration of Independence: A Transcription”). These ideals were inspired by previous philosopher  John Locke, who advocated  for every man to have the rights to life, liberty and property. Put into today’s ideals and context, these countries’ leaders wanted every human being, independent of money or social status, to have the needs to live, the freedom to make decisions, and the right to search for one’s happiness wherever they may find it.

In second grade when you learned the needs for survival, they probably taught you something like food, water, and shelter, right? Unfortunately many people don’t even have these things. In 2023 the NAEH (National Alliance to End Homelessness) conducted a study, and the results were sickening. It was discovered that “In 2023, a record high 256,610 people, or 39.3 percent of all people experiencing homelessness, were unsheltered. Reading this in the comfort of your own house is jarring. More than fifty percent of individuals experiencing homelessness were unsheltered” (“State of Homelessness: 2024 Edition – endhomelessness.org”). When you think of unsheltered you probably think of living without a house or an apartment, but with further investigation it is much worse than that alone. Homeless means without a home, but unsheltered means nothing above their head. These people have failed and everyone no matter ethnicity or income has a right to shelter. While it is not by definition a breach of a rights for the underprivileged to be struggling with money, or worried about the next meal, it is a scenario where they are simply privileged less. The name underprivileged speaks in itself, these people are not having violated rights as long as they have enough life sustenance, and freedom, they are simply privileged less or under-privileged. 

Now that we’ve given a basis and cleared up a few misconceptions, it is time to figure out where this line of difference stands. Something that well-off families may think of as a privilege is maybe nice clothes or a new car or a fancy meal out. However it is often much simpler than that. Often overlooked is the privilege to choose what you eat, the privilege to not have your food options limited to your salary. From this we can conclude that despite the definition, privilege means something different to each one of us. So if that is the case, then where is the base-line? The line is, by definition, if you can access anything other than food, water, shelter, freedom, and the right to make decisions. In America and some other developed countries, with laws, free education and access to books and information are also added to that list. When you think about what you use in your daily life, you probably think of your car, the bus, a bike, your phone and home wifi. The reality is, in Los Alamos specifically, even the so-called underprivileged, those with lower income or smaller apartments, are privileged. When it comes to much of the world, even the most run down and impoverished locations in the United States are still better off than citizens in other countries suffering from homelessness.

In the modern world, privilege is often determined by income and, as our economy is so heavily reliant on money, things with transactional and monetary value. In 2018 the United Nations (UN) investigated the state of homelessness in developing countries, and in later years the Texas Homelessness Network (THN) compared the UN’s studies to the impoverished in Texas. In an article, THN states: 

Rapid urbanization in some countries like India and Bangladesh has driven massive sums of people to form large communities living on the streets or in slums with conditions worse than what many people experiencing literal homelessness in Texas (Kao).

This quote explicitly states that in many developing countries, the conditions of the homeless are far worse than the horrors we see here in the US. 

Overall there is no one single line or boundary between privilege and right. It will always be subjective regarding who you are  comparing, what their background is, and where they are in the world. Many people only think of one solution, many times influenced by their social or economic class. For wealthy American families, privileges are much more like a very fancy party or a shopping spree; For  two struggling families, wherever they may be in the world, privileges are more like a small gift for the holidays or a meal that left them full for the first time in a while. The line between privilege and rights moves often, and there is never going to be a distinct location. It is always important to understand the party you’re comparing yourself to.